Theresa May assassination plot suspect in court

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British Prime Minister Theresa May was the alleged target of an assassination plot that was thwarted by security officials.

(CNN)A man who allegedly plotted to assassinate British Prime Minister Theresa May appeared in court Wednesday charged with terrorism offenses.

London based Naa'imur Zakariyah Rahman, 20, who described himself in court as Pakistani British, was arrested last week and charged on Tuesday.

A second man, Mohammed Aqib Imran, 21, from Birmingham, appeared in court at the same time, also charged with "the intention of committing acts of terrorism." When asked about his nationality in court, Imran said he was Bangladeshi British.

According to court documents, Rahman planned to detonate an explosive device at the gates of Downing Street and then seek to gain access to No. 10 -- May's official residence -- "in the ensuing chaos with a view to trying to kill the Prime Minister."

"The secondary attack on No. 10 was to be carried out with a suicide vest, pepper spray and a knife," the document said.

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Rahman had carried out a "hostile reconnaissance" of the area as part of his preparations and revealed his plan to "attack, kill and cause explosions" in several recorded conversations, according to the allegations.

The UK terror threat from Islamist terrorists is operating "at a scale and pace we've not seen before," said Andrew Parker, director general of MI5, in a speech in October.

He warned that "the challenge that we face is undoubtedly a stark one. More threat, coming at us more quickly, and sometimes harder to detect. But it is a challenge that we and our partners are rising to and are facing down."

This court artist sketch shows Mohammed Aqib Imran, left, and Naa'imur Zakariyah Rahman in the dock at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London on Wednesday.

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"On two separate occasions in the months prior to the attack, intelligence was received by MI5 whose significance was not fully appreciated at the time," the report said.

The report noted that while counterterrorism police and MI5 had gotten most things right, "it is conceivable that the Manchester attack in particular might have been averted had the cards fallen differently."

"Policing and our colleagues in the fight against terrorism will continue to learn and improve," Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick said in a statement Tuesday.

"There are currently well over 500 counterterrorism investigations, involving more than 3,000 subjects of interest -- along with a growing pool of more than 20,000 individuals who have previously been the subject of terrorism investigations," the statement said.

"These investigations cover the full range of terrorist activity, from attack planning to activity that supports or facilitates terrorism -- but a significant proportion involve potential attack-planning threats. The tempo is more intense than ever."